sayhello
Have Camera, Will Travel
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2006
Day 4 - Off to Paris!!
The next morning we once again had breakfast at the Hotel buffet, and then congregated to say farewell to the lovely Chancery Court Hotel, and board our motorcoach for St. Pancras station.
The doorman at the Chancery Court Hotel, getting ready to bid us adieu!
St. Pancras will look familiar to Harry Potter fans who have seen the last HP movie. The exterior of St. Pancras was shown, even though Platform 9 3/4 is in King's Cross station. It turns out the 2 stations are right next to each other, but the exterior of St. Pancras is much prettier!
After we were dropped off at St. Pancras, Landon told us he was going to walk those who wanted to over to King's Cross station for a bit of a photo opportunity. King's Cross had installed a luggage trolley to look as though it was passing through the wall of the station, just like in the Harry Potter movies. Since King's Cross was currently under renovation, they'd moved the Platform 9 3/4 photo op to an area outside the station. Landon's "short walk" was not terribly short (in fact, it was quite a schlep!) but it *was* a fun photo op, and I'm glad we did it!
Wait for me, Harry!
Once we were all done getting our photos taken, we headed back to St. Pancras, where we were to catch the Eurostar train and travel First Class through the Chunnel to Paris! We all made one last stop at Pret a Manger, where we selected sandwiches and such for our "box lunch" on the train (it was covered by ABD).
Me and Landon
Once we all were congregated near the train, boarding was already in progress, so we headed to our First Class car. Here it turns out that the European definition of First Class is very different from the US definition of First Class. Whereas many of us had images of the luxury of First Class that we see on airplanes, it turns out that First Class in Europe is really more like what we would deem a low-end Business Class, and their Premier Business Class is more of what we had in mind as First Class. Pete, among others, was not amused. Mostly because it was mis-represented, not because it was a bad mode of transportation. (This disparity also explained why the First Class train ticket I'd bought from Winchester to London had been so relatively inexpensive, and had relatively few amenities.) But we all settled in. After all, whatever the class, we *were* on a train to PARIS!
While it was a comfortable, pleasant way to travel (*SO* much better than flying!!!) it was not quite as "romantic" as I'd imagined. For most of the trip, we were either traveling through "ditches", or traveling through the pitch-black Chunnel, etc. So we really didn't get to see much "countryside" until we were well into France. But again, it was not a bad trip, just not quite what I'd romanticized it out to be. I think several people on the trip agreed with this.
After a mere two and a half hours, we arrived in Paris! We emerged from our train into Gare du Nord train station.
As we emerged into the bright sunlight of a Paris afternoon, we could see just how beautiful the charming exterior of the Gare du Nord was.
OMG, we were in Paris!
We were whisked off to our motorcoach, where we were joined by one of our Paris Step-on Guides, Cecile, who gave us a running commentary about Paris as we drove around on a mini-tour of the city, while working our way to our hotel.
I think this is the Harrod's of Paris...
The Paris Opera
Whoever had the concession on wrought iron in Paris must have made a fortune! It seemed that *EVERY* building had at least *some* wrought iron on it! And a lot of them had an extensive amount of it!
Our first glimpse...
The Avenue des Champs-Elysees!
It's the Arc de Triomphe!!!!
As we drove around, seeing such iconic places as the Champs-Elysees, and the Arc de Triomphe, we would get tantalizing little glimpses of the Eiffel Tower. But then, we were taken up to the Trocadero for our first *real* view of the "Tour Eiffel" (Eiffel Tower)!!! What a gorgeous vantage point!! Magnificent!
At this point, everyone was running around, taking photos, getting their photos taken, and just absorbing the fact that we really were, indeed, looking at the Eiffel Tower in Paris!!! I was seriously surprised that it was just so *there*. I mean, there is nothing else around it even vaguely as tall. It's just sitting there, all by itself, towering over this amazingly flat area. You can literally see the Eiffel Tower from all over the city. I just never realized it was so *different* from everything around it! This was just the perfect, perfect way to get our first official view of the Eiffel Tower!
It was really, really windy up on the Trocadero. I mean, like, fighting not to be knocked over at times windy! For me, it added to the giddiness of the realization that I was actually in Paris, looking at the Eiffel Tower. I saw all sorts of reactions, from giggles and laughter to tears, as everyone absorbed what it meant to them to be there.
I had noticed on our way to the Trocadero that my camera battery was running low. I went to switch to my spare battery, and realized I had forgotten to recharge it! I think I still managed to get some great photos (although the angle of the sun made it hard to get any clear photos). I guess the good thing is, it kept me from taking 1000 pictures just standing there on the Trocadero!
Continued in next post
The next morning we once again had breakfast at the Hotel buffet, and then congregated to say farewell to the lovely Chancery Court Hotel, and board our motorcoach for St. Pancras station.
The doorman at the Chancery Court Hotel, getting ready to bid us adieu!
St. Pancras will look familiar to Harry Potter fans who have seen the last HP movie. The exterior of St. Pancras was shown, even though Platform 9 3/4 is in King's Cross station. It turns out the 2 stations are right next to each other, but the exterior of St. Pancras is much prettier!
After we were dropped off at St. Pancras, Landon told us he was going to walk those who wanted to over to King's Cross station for a bit of a photo opportunity. King's Cross had installed a luggage trolley to look as though it was passing through the wall of the station, just like in the Harry Potter movies. Since King's Cross was currently under renovation, they'd moved the Platform 9 3/4 photo op to an area outside the station. Landon's "short walk" was not terribly short (in fact, it was quite a schlep!) but it *was* a fun photo op, and I'm glad we did it!
Wait for me, Harry!
Once we were all done getting our photos taken, we headed back to St. Pancras, where we were to catch the Eurostar train and travel First Class through the Chunnel to Paris! We all made one last stop at Pret a Manger, where we selected sandwiches and such for our "box lunch" on the train (it was covered by ABD).
Me and Landon
Once we all were congregated near the train, boarding was already in progress, so we headed to our First Class car. Here it turns out that the European definition of First Class is very different from the US definition of First Class. Whereas many of us had images of the luxury of First Class that we see on airplanes, it turns out that First Class in Europe is really more like what we would deem a low-end Business Class, and their Premier Business Class is more of what we had in mind as First Class. Pete, among others, was not amused. Mostly because it was mis-represented, not because it was a bad mode of transportation. (This disparity also explained why the First Class train ticket I'd bought from Winchester to London had been so relatively inexpensive, and had relatively few amenities.) But we all settled in. After all, whatever the class, we *were* on a train to PARIS!
While it was a comfortable, pleasant way to travel (*SO* much better than flying!!!) it was not quite as "romantic" as I'd imagined. For most of the trip, we were either traveling through "ditches", or traveling through the pitch-black Chunnel, etc. So we really didn't get to see much "countryside" until we were well into France. But again, it was not a bad trip, just not quite what I'd romanticized it out to be. I think several people on the trip agreed with this.
After a mere two and a half hours, we arrived in Paris! We emerged from our train into Gare du Nord train station.
As we emerged into the bright sunlight of a Paris afternoon, we could see just how beautiful the charming exterior of the Gare du Nord was.
OMG, we were in Paris!
We were whisked off to our motorcoach, where we were joined by one of our Paris Step-on Guides, Cecile, who gave us a running commentary about Paris as we drove around on a mini-tour of the city, while working our way to our hotel.
I think this is the Harrod's of Paris...
The Paris Opera
Whoever had the concession on wrought iron in Paris must have made a fortune! It seemed that *EVERY* building had at least *some* wrought iron on it! And a lot of them had an extensive amount of it!
Our first glimpse...
The Avenue des Champs-Elysees!
It's the Arc de Triomphe!!!!
As we drove around, seeing such iconic places as the Champs-Elysees, and the Arc de Triomphe, we would get tantalizing little glimpses of the Eiffel Tower. But then, we were taken up to the Trocadero for our first *real* view of the "Tour Eiffel" (Eiffel Tower)!!! What a gorgeous vantage point!! Magnificent!
At this point, everyone was running around, taking photos, getting their photos taken, and just absorbing the fact that we really were, indeed, looking at the Eiffel Tower in Paris!!! I was seriously surprised that it was just so *there*. I mean, there is nothing else around it even vaguely as tall. It's just sitting there, all by itself, towering over this amazingly flat area. You can literally see the Eiffel Tower from all over the city. I just never realized it was so *different* from everything around it! This was just the perfect, perfect way to get our first official view of the Eiffel Tower!
It was really, really windy up on the Trocadero. I mean, like, fighting not to be knocked over at times windy! For me, it added to the giddiness of the realization that I was actually in Paris, looking at the Eiffel Tower. I saw all sorts of reactions, from giggles and laughter to tears, as everyone absorbed what it meant to them to be there.
I had noticed on our way to the Trocadero that my camera battery was running low. I went to switch to my spare battery, and realized I had forgotten to recharge it! I think I still managed to get some great photos (although the angle of the sun made it hard to get any clear photos). I guess the good thing is, it kept me from taking 1000 pictures just standing there on the Trocadero!
Continued in next post
And 2 1/2 hours from London to Paris! Amazing!
I'm seriously planning on doing Greece next year. I really, really hope the DIS does it as one of their trips!
Nobody on *my* trip!!!
I'm glad I can bring back (I assume!) good memories for you. Part 7 soon!
